However, since the early 1980s, reported pertussis incidence has increased cyclically with peaks occurring every 3–4 years.

And yet whooping cough increases are being described as though they are a new problem. Here is an example, one of many:

Whooping cough cases have outright ballooned in Washington; state health authorities actually declared epidemic status earlier this year, there has been a 13-fold increase in diagnoses since 2011.

Washington — though home to a lot of highly-educated, tech savvy people — is also the epicenter of the U.S. anti-vaccination movement. Over the last few decades, more and more parents there have opted out of inoculating their kids against preventable illnesses. As some 90 percent of any population must be inoculated for vaccines to work — AKA “herd immunity” — many are blaming Washington’s anti-vax camp for spurring the disease’s spread. Read more